1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer system security. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method of proactive and reactive alerting of malicious code on a computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been a marked shift in the overall threat landscape to highly targeted, silent attacks from the previous generation of noisy, “pandemic” threats. The primary motivation behind the new breed of attacker is financial gain whereas the traditional malware author was motivated by a form of reckless curiosity, ego, and/or a desire for attention.
More particularly, traditional threats were noisy, visible to everyone, indiscriminate, and highly disruptive. As the threats were indiscriminate, general alerts to the public of the looming threats were highly effective at minimizing the impact of the threats.
However, as the new breed of threats is motivated by financial gain, the new breed of threats is highly targeted and silent attacks. Because the threats are highly targeted, general alerts to the public are ineffective. Specifically, as the threats are directed to a small segment of the population, general alerts to the overall population are inapplicable to most of the population. Further, as the population is inundated by general alerts that are by and large inapplicable to any one particular user, the general alerts are ignored.